Many vehicles have storage beds. One of the most common types of such a vehicle is a pickup truck having a cab with a storage bed behind it. The purpose of the vehicle storage bed is to allow storage and transportation of loads such as construction material, machinery, sporting goods, groceries and numerous other types of personal property.
The vehicle storage bed is a substantially rectangular planar area defined by a front panel adjacent to the rear of the vehicle cab, two vehicle side panels and a tailgate. Typically, the vehicle storage bed has two wheel wells protruding into the storage area. The wheel wells provide space for the rear vehicle tires to rotate without interference from the vehicle storage bed. The length and width of the vehicle storage bed, the distance from the rearmost point of the wheel wells to the tailgate and the tailgate height are of standardized dimensions on most modern pickup trucks.
The material desired to be transported often is too long to fit within the vehicle storage bed when the vehicle storage bed is closed by the tailgate being in the up position. Therefore, the tailgate is often lowered to permit larger loads to be carried within the vehicle storage bed. Since the tailgate is down in such a configuration a substantial risk of the load: falling out resulting in property loss or physical injury is created. In addition, some types of loads, such as construction drywall, may be damaged because of the lack of vehicle bed support under a portion of the load.
At times the vehicle user needs to subdivide the vehicle storage bed into smaller storage areas. For example, the user may desire to confine a bag of groceries or a bag of golf clubs to a much smaller area than the area of the vehicle storage bed. The most common locations where subdivided storage areas are desired are: between the wheel wells and a raised tailgate, over a lowered tailgate and adjacent to the vehicle cab.
A number of vehicle bed extenders have been developed. Some serve the dual purposes of extending the vehicle storage bed and creating subdivided storage spaces within the storage bed. Some are foldable to provide easier storage when not in use.
One of the problems common to all known devices that both extend the vehicle storage bed in one mode and provide subdivided storage spaces in another mode is that the dimensions are the same in both modes. This creates a problem because the distance between the rearmost portion of the wheel wells and the raised tailgate is usually less than the height of the tailgate. Therefore, if the device has fixed dimensions which allow it to fit between the wheel wells and the tailgate in storage mode, it will not take full advantage of the additional vehicle bed storage space created when the tailgate is down and the device is used in extender mode. To take full advantage of all vehicle bed space available between the wheel wells and the tailgate when the device is used in storage mode, and at the same time, when the device is used as a vehicle bed extender, take full advantage of the additional vehicle bed storage space created when the tailgate is down, the length of the vehicle bed storage extender along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle must be variable rather than fixed.
Information relevant to attempts to address these problems can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,472,639, 4,856,840, 5,456,511, 5,458,389, 5,678,743, 5,700,047, 5,752,636, 5,775,759, 5,816,638, 5,820,188, 5,823,597, 5,902,000, 5,924,753, 6,019,410 and 6,120,076. However, each one of these references lacks one or more of the features listed in the next paragraph.
There is a need for a vehicle bed storage extender with the following features It would extend the vehicle storage bed over the entire surface area of the lowered tailgate. It would provide additional vehicle storage bed extension when it""s rearmost retaining wall is lowered into a horizontal position coplanar with the vehicle storage bed. It would provide subdivided storage spaces over the entire vehicle bed storage area between the rearmost portion of the wheel wells and the raised tailgate. It would provide subdivided storage spaces over the entire additional vehicle bed space created by the lowering of the tailgate. It would provide subdivided storage spaces adjacent to the vehicle cab. It""s length along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle would be variable in either storage or extender mode. It would be portable and easily storable. It would be foldable into a slim rectangular package when not in use. It would have a low manufacturing cost. It could be manufactured from a variety of materials including steel, aluminum and plastic. It would be easily installable and removable from the vehicle. It would be easily packageable for shipping. It would be one integral piece.
The present invention is directed to a device that satisfies these needs. The invention is intended for use on vehicles having a storage bed. Such vehicles have a cab which serves as a passenger compartment. The storage bed is positioned on a horizontal plane behind the cab. A vertically oriented front panel is located adjacent to the rear of the vehicle cab at the front of the storage bed. Two vertically oriented side panels are located along the side perimeters of the storage bed. The storage bed is enclosed by a vertically oriented tailgate located at the rear of the storage bed and the rear of each side panel. The storage bed can be opened by lowering the tailgate into a horizontal or down position.
The vehicle bed storage extender comprises an end wall, two variable length side walls attached to the end wall and one or more vehicle mounts attached to each side wall. The variable length side walls are attached to the end wall such that the end wall and side walls form a three sided open top box. The open top box is sized to extend the bed of the vehicle when the tailgate of the vehicle is down. This is accomplished by securing the open top box over the tailgate with the end wall being positioned over the rear of the tailgate.
The variable length walls can be adjusted to permit the open top box to be positioned between a raised tailgate and wheel wells protruding into the storage bed. In this configuration the end wall is oriented forward of the side walls and the tailgate. Thus a storage area is created on top of the storage bed between the wheel wells and the tailgate. Since the distance between the wheel wells and the tailgate is usually less than the height of the tailgate, the variable length walls permit the open top box to be sized optimally whether the device is used to extend the vehicle bed by being placed over a lowered tailgate, or whether the device is used to create a storage area on top of the storage bed. The open top box can also be used to create a storage area on top of the vehicle bed at other locations, such as adjacent to the front panel behind the vehicle cab.
The ends of the side walls which are not attached to the end wall are free. One or more vehicle mounts are attached to the free end of each side wall. The three sided open top box is secured to the vehicle by securing the vehicle mounts to the rear ends of the side panels. It can also be secured to the vehicle by securing the vehicle mounts to the front panel behind the vehicle cab, thereby creating a forward storage area.
The variable length side walls can be adjusted to multiple lengths. One version of the invention uses dual length side walls instead of variable length side walls. A dual length side wall is a type of a variable length side wall which can be adjusted to two predetermined lengths.
Preferably, the device, known as a vehicle bed storage extender, has side walls which are pivotally attached to the end wall. This will permit the side walls to be folded into a position parallel and adjacent to the end wall, thereby forming a compact easily storable structure.
Preferably, the vehicle bed storage extender further comprises a second wall and a third wall. The second wall is pivotally connected to the end wall. The second wall is sized to folding fit adjacent and parallel to the end wall. The third wall is pivotally connected to the second wall. The third wall is sized to folding fit adjacent and parallel to the second wall and the end wall. The third wall is further configured with the end wall, the second wall and the side walls to allow formation of a rectangular storage area.
In another version of the invention a plurality of locking dividers are pivotally attached to the second wall. The dividers are attached such that they may be folded into a position parallel and adjacent to the second wall when their use is not desired. When the dividers are locked in a position perpendicular to the second wall they will create additional storage receptacles. Thus the single storage area created by the three sided open top box may be subdivided into additional storage receptacles.
The end wall may be pivotally attached to the bottom of each side wall and detachable from the top of each side wall. This will permit the end wall to pivot into a position substantially coplanar with the vehicle tailgate when the tailgate is in its down position, thus further extending the vehicle bed when the vehicle bed storage extender is positioned over the tailgate with the end wall oriented rearward.
Another version of the invention comprises two cornerposts, an end wall, two side wall assemblies and means for locking the end wall to each cornerpost when the end wall and side wall assemblies are configured as a three sided open top box. Each cornerpost has a side wall face, a back face and an end wall face. The end wall is rotatably connected to the bottoms of the end wall face of each cornerpost. The side wall assemblies are each pivotally attached to the side wall face of each respective cornerpost. Each side wall assembly comprises a first side wall subassembly, a second side wall subassembly having two vertical wall sides, one or more vehicle mounts and means locking the first side wall subassembly to the second side wall subassembly. Each second side wall subassembly is sized and pivotally attached to a first side wall subassembly such that the side wall assembly is capable of having two distinct lengths when the end wall and side wall assemblies are configured as:a three sided open top box. The vehicle mounts are attached to each vertical wall side of each second side wall subassembly. Means for locking the first side wall subassembly to the second side wall subassembly of each side wall assembly are provided to form a locked wall. Means for locking the end wall to the end wall face of each cornerpost when the end wall and side wall assemblies are configured as a three sided open top box are also provided.